OCR Text |
Show It's About Time Bbmdd Btmm Wsp 8mmBl Iftmm Always f By VICKIE MATHKSON Summertime is fast approaching and you are probably thinking about shopping for bright colored col-ored outfits and skimpy bathing suits. Well, if you are still thinking about it, it is already too late. The time to find cool summer items hanging hang-ing on department store racks is long past. Now you will find long-sleeved shirts and wool sweaters. swea-ters. IT SEEMS that fashion designers and department depart-ment store managers are always one or two seasons ahead. If you want to buy spring clothing clo-thing you need to do it in the fall and if you want summer outfits you should do your shopping in the winter. This is particularly true if you want to find a good buy on these items. I don't like this shop ahead program. How am I supposed to know what size ski pants I will need when it is still 90 degrees outside? And if a special occasion occa-sion arises it is impossible to rush to the store and hnv a siiifahle item to we;ir - nothing like showing up it: a summer frock when it is snowing snow-ing outside. What if a!! the stores adopted this seasonal approach to their marketing? Can you imagine planting your jarden and realizing that you need a new hue, so you rush to the hardware store and the clerk says, "I'm sorry, we don't have any hoes. I know it is July, but now is the time to buy snow -,ho els." WK L'.ONT fUlALLY need seasonal clothing, anyway. Almost everyone works in an air-conditioned air-conditioned office so it doesn't make sense to change the weight of your clothing when the ol'llce is ill ways (,H degrees. And I must say that I really uYeud grocery shopping in the summer. The It ocn food aisle was not designed for people peo-ple wearing shorts and sleeveless shirts. To buy frozen pi.;i you should always wear a coat and mittens. Of com s' clothes arc not the only seasonal items ;!:-orn, Thcrv are jingle bells, valentines, coi nucopias. fresh strawberries and kites. I'll h ? " ' ''L bet every first grade teacher in the country has a kite on her March classroom calendar, but I can't remember ever flying one at that time of year. There is always too much snow on the ground or else the wind isn't blowing hard enough. I think we should change kite flying to summertime. THERE ARE a few items which I think deserve de-serve more than a seasonal status: snowconcs, Christmas lights and candy-coated malted milk eggs. And ice cream cones should be changed to a wintertime treat. Oh, sure they taste refreshing re-freshing in the summer, but the calories look better under a parka than they do under a swimming swim-ming suit. Maybe we should de-regulate all seasonal items. We could start a campaign that would force retailers to stock all items year round. The only thing I would like to sec retained as a seasonal sea-sonal item would be football but with the new United States Football League it looks like it has already been deregulated. |